


it was always them

by HyperchaoticStarlight (MVPYurio)



Series: i'll be around for you [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Pepper Potts, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Science Boyfriends, Science Bros, Scienceshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 15:38:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15099812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MVPYurio/pseuds/HyperchaoticStarlight
Summary: Home. He liked the sound of that.





	it was always them

**Author's Note:**

> This one picks up immediately after it's quiet up there. Enjoy! –Lia

“Well, now I know how it feels to fly in one of those things,” Bruce said as Tony opened the door for him.

“Now you know,” said Tony. “Did you like it?”

“I can see why  _ you _ like it,” said Bruce. “It’s an adrenaline junkie’s paradise. I’m not so sure. But what I’m  _ really  _ not so sure about, is how it appeared out of nowhere.”

“Oh, it was there the whole time,” said Tony. “Followed me from New York to Fuckall, Ohio. I equipped the football with a cloaking mechanism.”

“How in the  _ hell  _ did you end up with a cloaking mechanism?” Bruce asked incredulously.

“Oh, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s had cloaking tech for ages,” Tony replied casually.

“And how did you manage to get your hands on that?”

“Oh, it’s a great story,” said Tony, grinning. “The funniest thing happened. Pepper—” he put a hand on his heart “—bless her, Pepper found the original contract between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Stark Industries, that allowed them to use Stark tech for all those years. JARVIS, wanna show us what the contract said?”

A blue hologram appeared in the middle of the room. “Let’s see…  _ S.H.I.E.L.D. holds full responsibility for ensuring that no act of negligence or ill will results in the usage of physical or intellectual property licensed from Stark Industries by hostile foreign governments, terrorist organizations, or any other individuals or groups with the intent of harming the United States or its residents.  _ And, I dunno about you, but I’m pretty sure that the fact that HYDRA used Stark tech for  _ decades  _ while operating within S.H.I.E.L.D., qualifies as negligence  _ and  _ ill will. But I told Fury, hey, instead of suing you for contract violation, I’ll let it slide—but in exchange, you have to let me use your shit, whenever I want, for whatever I want, no questions asked.”

“There’s no  _ way  _ that all was actually in the contract,” said Bruce.

Tony shrugged. “Hey, Pepper was the one who found it, not me—and I must say, her timing was just impeccable. Two days before my birthday—”

“Oh, you motherfucker—”

“—but anyway, everyone involved in signing that contract is dead because HYDRA killed them, which really just drove the point home.”

“You’re full of shit.”

“Maybe, but I told Fury all of this when we were negotiating letting him rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. in my  _ very _ nice, tricked-out, arc reactor-powered compound.” Tony smirked. “So really, what was Fury going to do?”

Bruce laughed out loud. “That’s a _dick_ move, Stark.”

“A dick move that got you from the ass-fuck middle of nowhere to… well, the ass-fuck middle of nowhere,” Tony pointed out.

“Yeah? And? Still a dick move.”

“Tough crowd,” said Tony. “Anyway, anything in here that you want is yours. Food, couch space, any of the rooms—well, except mine, but JARVIS won’t let you in there.”

Bruce looked around the living room. It looked and felt just like the penthouse in Stark Tower, which was interesting considering that Stark Tower was smack in the middle of New York, and this house was smack in the middle of  _ nothing. _

“Hey, wait a second,” said Tony. “You didn’t have any shit with you, did you?”

Yeah. That was a thing. Bruce gave a nervous laugh. “Nope… didn’t really pack before Thor rescued me from… anyway.”

“Well, that’s gonna have to change,” said Tony. Bruce groaned, knowing exactly what Tony was suggesting.  “Listen, we don’t have to get much—let’s just go somewhere, quick, so you can get at least  _ some  _ shit that you need.”

“Tony, you don’t have to…”

“I won’t force you,” said Tony. “But it makes me sad that you don’t have anything, and you’re my friend, and I want to help you.”

Bruce looked over at Tony, reading his face for sincerity. It had been two long years since Bruce had received anything approximating kindness, much less generosity, and the notion that Tony Stark of all people would be the first to break that trend, to be the one to start showing him even a semblance of grace, hell, even Thor—

And that’s when it clicked. Ever since Bruce and Tony first met, it had always been  _ them. _ Time and time again they had gravitated towards each other. They had shared lab space countless times, falling into a familiar, seamless rhythm. As far as Bruce was aware, he was the only Avenger authorized to go into any of Tony’s labs—at least, if the fact that Steve and Natasha had both tried many times, at the Tower and elsewhere, only to be met with JARVIS’s stark refusal, was anything to go by.

The others didn’t see it, of course; to them, it was always Nat and Bruce, but that was a deeply uncomfortable myth with an uncomfortable history.

Well, it was uncomfortable to Bruce. For the others, he thought bitterly, it was probably why they were able to sleep at night when he was around.

On the other hand, Tony, not just as a person but as a  _ concept,  _ was anything but reassuring. If Bruce didn’t know better, he would have thought that that was why nobody saw himself and Tony as the true team-within-a-team, that they didn’t think Tony was capable of having that type of closeness with anyone, except for Pepper and  _ maybe  _ Rhodey and  _ maybe  _ Happy, and  _ maybe  _ a whole list of other  _ maybe’s  _ that, brick by  _ maybe  _ brick, toppled the theory.

Tony was capable. Occasionally unwilling to put in the effort, perhaps, but capable.

And yet, Tony always put in the effort with Bruce, in a way that the others didn’t want to see because Tony’s effort involved a radical acceptance of something that none of the others wanted to accept, because they were scared, and Bruce hardly could blame them.

“I haven’t seen you in two years,” Tony said quietly. “And I’m a damn good talker, but I literally cannot articulate how much I missed you.”

It wasn’t a sudden semblance of grace, Bruce realized. Tony was only picking up where they had left off.

Bruce gave a small smile. “I missed you too. Let’s do this.”

Tony grinned and squeezed Bruce’s shoulder slightly. “I’ll go get the car.”

~~~~

“Get in, loser; we’re going shopping!”

Bruce laughed as Tony honked the horn and waved. “Did you just—”

“Quote Mean Girls? Yes, yes I did.”

“Do I want to know how you know that movie?” Bruce asked.

“There’s this kid that I’m… mentoring, as it were,” Tony explained. “He’s only sixteen, so he’s a bit too young to be an Avenger, but damn, when that kid is an adult, I’ll just about beg him to join the team. He’s a genius.”

“And he told you about Mean Girls.”

“Yes… hang on, how do  _ you  _ know about Mean Girls?” Tony grinned mischievously, hoping beyond hope for some embarassing truth.

“I’ve spent years upon years as a hermit,” said Bruce. “Had to entertain myself somehow.”

“That… is kinda depressing,” said Tony. “But anyway, let’s go.”

Bruce climbed into the passenger seat next to Tony. “Where’re we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” Tony replied.

_ Oh, great. He’s taking me somewhere ridiculous and fancy.  _ Bruce sighed. Some things about Tony Stark would never change. He stared out the window, mentally preparing himself for the anxiety and discomfort in store (and in the store).

And then they stopped, pulled into a parking lot, and Bruce looked up to see… a near-empty strip mall, with a huge-ass Target smack in the middle.

“Target?” he asked.

“I know you’re not exactly a fancy-pants type,” said Tony. “I figured that a  _ Tarzhay  _ would be more up your alley. That’s a Pepperism,” he added when Bruce raised an eyebrow. “That’s all Pepper. I swear.”

Bruce laughed. “Alright, alright.”

“So, how long are we in here?” Tony asked.

“What?”

“How long do you feel comfortable staying in here?”

Bruce blinked a few times. “Uhhhh… 45 minutes? An hour, maybe?”

“Alright then, I’m going to set a timer for 30 minutes. When that timer goes off, we go immediately to the checkout line, no matter how much or how little stuff we have, and we leave, immediately. Sound good?”

_ “Yes,”  _ Bruce said emphatically. “That 45 minutes thing was—”

“Complete bullshit. I can tell.” Tony turned off the ignition. “30 minutes, and then we walk the hell out of there and go home.”

Bruce gave a soft smile. Home. He liked the sound of that.

**Author's Note:**

> This series is brought to you by Lia (she/her, HyperchaoticStarlight) and James (they/them, TheMagicMicrobus). We try to update about every 2 weeks. However, we are both students (Lia is in college; James is in high school), and so we cannot promise perfection.
> 
> Find Lia on Tumblr @ hyperchaoticstarlight, marvel-at-these-gays, scienceshipping, and tinytonys.  
> Find James on Tumblr @ themagicmicrobus and morethanhumantogether.
> 
> If you have ideas for this series, please feel free to reach out to one of us and we will consider putting it in!


End file.
